Ashwin Share No.1 Spot with Jadeja

Dubai: India's Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have become the first pair of spinners to be jointly top-ranked in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as Jadeja has caught up with his spin-partner in the rankings released today after the second Test against Australia in Bengaluru.

Jadeja's seven wickets in the match, which included a crucial six for 63 in the first innings, have helped him move up one rank to reach the top position for the first time in his career.

The last time two bowlers shared the top spot was in April 2008 when Dale Steyn and Muttiah Muralidaran were at the top.

Ashwin too played an important role in the match, which India won by 75 runs to level the four-match series 1-1, so as not to concede the top ranking. His eight wickets took him past spin legend Bishan Bedi's tally of 266 wickets and made him the fifth-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 269 wickets.

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon's eight wickets in the match have lifted him two places to 16th rank while his team's left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe and India pace bowler Umesh Yadav have gained one place each to reach career-best 28th and 29th places, respectively.

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen Australia captain Steve Smith has maintained his reign at the top for 77 Tests, going past Ricky Ponting's 76 matches and now has the third longest stint at the top among Australians after Steve Waugh (94) and Don Bradman (93).

India's win in the second Test assures it the No.1 spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings on the April 1 cut-off date and a cash prize of $1 million. The fight is now for the second, third and fourth places.

Cheteshwar Pujara compiled an epic double century and Wriddhiman Saha complimented with a career-best 117 to deflate Australia and put India in a strong position on the fourth day of the third test on Sunday.